Spatially-resolved interstellar dust properties in the face-on spiral galaxy M 99 as observed by NIKA2

TL;DR

This study maps dust properties across the face-on spiral galaxy M 99 using new millimetre observations, revealing spatial variations in dust spectral index, mass, and grain composition, and highlighting biases in fixed-beta models.

Contribution

It provides the first spatially-resolved analysis of dust spectral index and mass in M 99, combining NIKA2 millimetre data with multiwavelength observations and advanced Bayesian modeling.

Findings

Dust spectral index varies from ~1.6-1.7 in diffuse regions to ~2.3-2.5 in dense areas.

Dust masses from variable beta models are up to 4 times higher than fixed-beta models.

Small grain fraction increases from ~10% in the center to ~15% in the diffuse disc.

Abstract

Large dust grains in thermal equilibrium dominate the far-infrared and contribute to the millimetre continuum of star-forming galaxies, but constraining their properties is difficult due to free-free and synchrotron contamination. We study spatial variations in the dust spectral index, mass, and grain properties in the nearby face-on spiral galaxy M 99. We use new 1.15 and 2 mm continuum observations from NIKA2 on the IRAM 30 m telescope (IMEGIN Guaranteed Time Large Programme) combined with multiwavelength data from UV to radio. The infrared-to-radio SED is decomposed into dust, free-free, and synchrotron components using the hierarchical Bayesian code HerBIE. Dust is modelled via a modified blackbody (MBB) with variable millimetre spectral index beta and the THEMIS dust model with fixed beta. We perform spatially-resolved analysis at scales ~1.75 kpc (~25''), covering the centre, spiral arms, and inter-arm regions. MBB fits reveal beta variations from ~1.6-1.7 in diffuse regions to ~2.3-2.5 in dense star-forming areas, likely due to grain coagulation and changes in silicate-to-carbonaceous ratios. Dust masses from variable beta are up to ~4x higher than fixed-beta models, which systematically bias dust-to-stellar and dust-to-gas ratios. The small grain fraction rises from ~10% in the centre to ~15% in the diffuse disc, anti-correlated with the interstellar radiation field; gas-phase metallicity plays a minor role within 8 kpc. Synchrotron spectral index ranges from ~0.6-0.7 in star-forming regions to ~1.2 in the diffuse medium, consistent with cosmic-ray electron ageing.